


we're stressed out (and so in love)

by titania19



Series: you put a spell on me [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 00z are finally taking their OWLs, AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Established Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Fluff, Gryffindor Lee Jeno, Implied Chenji, M/M, Slytherin Na Jaemin, Stressed, and they are, established luren, good luck to the other 4, implied markhyuck, nomin kiss a lot, the hogwarts school system is aged up by a few years, they have to deal with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26211466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titania19/pseuds/titania19
Summary: "oh my god, they've lost it." jisung whispers, watching the four fifth-years huddled around the gryffindor common room fire place."guys?" yukhei calls out carefully, "are you okay?""yeah!""no.""do welookokay?""shut up."yukhei blinks at the four completely different answers provided by jaemin, jeno, donghyuck and renjun respectively. mark gives him a look that says'what else were you expecting?'"maybe we should just take jaemin's word for it and assume they're fine." chenle suggests.ORjaemin, jeno, renjun and donghyuck are finally taking their OWL exams. stress and chaos ensues.(and nomin, as always, fall deeper in love)
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Series: you put a spell on me [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880482
Comments: 87
Kudos: 314





	1. i.

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys!
> 
> i am back with a story about nomin- and renjun and donghyuck of course- finally writing their OWLs.
> 
> and just to confirm, even though this fic is taking place at the end of their academic year, it is definitely NOT the last fic in this series. i have a lottt more stuff lined up, so i hope you all keep reading!!
> 
> you guys have always been super supportive and sweet, and i am always grateful for that. i worked hard on this fic, so i hope you enjoy it! do leave me a comment letting me know what you think (and also feel free to come scream about other stuff too. with nct2020 finally happening there is a lotttt to scream about and i am super excited)
> 
> thank you!! <3

the weeks leading up to the OWLs are absolute hell.

there's still six weeks to go- more than one month- but jaemin feels like the clock is a ticking time bomb, and he refuses to look at it any longer than he has to. and don't even get him started on calendars- those things exist just to stress him out. 

it's worse being dorm-mates with donghyuck, who has a huge-ass calendar hung up next to his bed, and crosses off days as it gets closer to the exams.

"why do you do that?" jaemin groans one night, watching his best friend cross off yet another day. there are officially forty-two more days left until OWLs start, "why? why must you torture us like this?"

"hey." their other dorm-mate, jinyoung bae, says from his corner of the room, "to be fair, i'd lose track of days without that thing."

"yeah." hyuck says smugly, "imagine waking up one day and boom, it's OWLs. you wouldn't even know because you don't have a calendar to keep track."

"i keep track on my homework planner." jaemin sniffs, and both donghyuck and jinyoung roll their eyes, "why? what's wrong with that?"

"nothing." hyuck grins, "anyway- we're getting our timetables soon, and-"

"no." jaemin whines, pressing his face into his pillow, "that makes it seem too real. i'm going to puke."

"please don't." damien calls out, "we don't need that."

"what if i fail history of magic?" jaemin demands, "or what about arithmancy, oh my god, do you know how hard subject that is?"

"no, because i wasn't stupid enough to take it."

donghyuck makes a noise, "i'm not sure how much sense that just made. don't you have to be smart to take arithmancy?"

"exactly." damien says, "i'm not stupid enough to think i'm that smart."

"whatever happens, you'll come out tops in transfiguration, na." jinyoung interrupts before hyuck can retort, "at least that's one O in the bag."

jaemin groans, rolling from side to side in quiet desperation, "but what about jeno? what will he do in transfiguration?"

"you've been tutoring him for seven months now." donghyuck soothes, "and you said he's doing good. he'll be fine."

"he's doing good at spells! he always forgets to study theory. i've been warning him about this for so long. what do i do if he fails?"

"he just won't have to take transifguration next year, i guess. not that he was going to, anyway."

jaemin turns a deathly glare onto hyuck, "i am not allowing my boyfriend to fail a subject. especially one that i spent seven months teaching him."

donghyuck raises his arms in surrender, "okay, sorry, sorry."

"i don't know what jen wants to do after school, but if i get less than E in any subject, i am screwed."

"what do you want to do again?"

"i want to be a healer, remember? i'm hoping to go into treatment for spell-damage." jaemin says, "that's why i need good grades."

"you suit that." damien agrees, "you like helping people, and you're good at magic. it makes sense."

jaemin beams at him, "you think?"

"especially treating spell damage." jinyoung says, "you need to be super good at all 5 main subjects, and you are. like you're super good at transfiguration, but i don't think there's a subject you're bad at, either. you'd be really good."

jaemin glows happily, and seungmin throws a book at him, "yes, so let's study because we have owls in less then a month."

the other three groan.

***

"i'm going to cry." jaemin announces.

they're in the gryffindor common room. if the slytherin table is their meal meet-up place, then the gryffindor common room is where they gather in their free time.

"me, too." renjun, donghyuck and jeno chorus.

yukhei presses a sympathetic kiss to renjun's lips, "OWLs suck. i remember how bad it was for me and mark last year."

"you'll have to do it for NEWTs next year, anyway." jisung points out. 

mark makes a face, "well, you and chenle will be doing your OWLs then, so the four of us can suffer together."

"i don't even know what i want to do after we graduate." jeno leans on jaemin, "why do i need to study if i don't know yet?"

"it's _because_ you don't know yet, you idiot." jaemin smacks him, "if you get more qualifications, you have a wider variety of options."

jeno makes a sad noise, "jaemin, will you break up with me if i fail transfiguration?"

"you won't fail."

jeno looks at him with wide eyes, "that wasn't my question. does that mean you will break up with me?"

"i'll never break up with you, babe." jaemin sighs, "but you're not going to fail."

chenle pushes a stack of transfiguration notes towards jeno kindly, "here, jeno. you won't fail. you have jaemin's notes."

jaemin kisses him chastely, "and you have _allll_ my love. isn't that enough?"

"if it's jaemin's love that's going to get you grades, you might as well stop studying altogether." donghyuck snorts.

"don't be mean." chenle snaps, "he's just nervous."

"i'm nervous too!"

mark reaches out to massage hyuck's shoulder blade. it's almost automatic, the way donghyuck relaxes against his touch, leans back a little. jaemin catches his best friend's eye. a subtle eyebrow raise is all it takes for him to avert his gaze.

"i think i'll do well in charms at least." renjun says, "all this tutoring this year really worked as a good revision."

chenle beams, "really?"

"what's your best subject, le?" yukhei asks curiously.

"i don't really have a best or a worst. i'm good at most stuff besides charms." the boy shrugs.

"you're good at charms now, though."

"yeah. i like everything, honestly."

"chenle's going to go into a big ministry position, with all his connections and skills." jaemin grins, "i can see you as like, the president of something."

"i want to work in international affairs, actually." chenle corrects, "international magical cooperation."

"wow." jisung breathes, "you're so cool."

chenle flushes, immediately turning to jaemin for moral support. jaemin looks at mark, quick to save his friend, "mark, what about you? do you and yukhei have any idea about what you want to do after school?"

"i want to work in wizard-muggle relations for sure." mark says, "that's why i'm taking muggle studies even if i'm muggle born- it's a qualification. things are getting a lot better now, especially with all the work hermione granger has done for muggle borns here. but there's still a lot to be done. i want to work in helping muggle families of wizards feel more included, y'know? sometimes it's a bit hard for my parents to understand things i talk about or what we do. there should be something done about that. i'm sure there are ways to keep it secretive still."

"wow." donghyuck looks thoroughly impressed, "that's awesome."

jaemin agrees. his and jisung's mothers are muggle borns, and it wasn't easy for them during the second wizarding war and the fall of the ministry. muggle-borns were being hunted down left and right, and blood-traitors, too. their fathers were both automatic blood-traitors due to their marriage to muggle-borns. his parents were in korea at the time, but the ministry- and voldemort and his followers- had eyes everywhere. they were in hiding for two years before harry potter finally won. it's only then that they gathered the courage to move to britain.

"i wish i knew what i wanted to do, but i'm not sure yet." yukhei says. renjun, donghyuck, jeno and jisung cheer.

"finally, normal people." donghyuck says, and the rest of them laugh, "who the fuck plans out their life that fast?"

mark, chenle and jaemin scowl.

"you'll love me no matter what i do, right?" jeno asks jaemin. he has that look on his face- smirking, like he _knows_ jaemin's going to say yes, and he is so damn proud of it. jaemin rolls his eyes.

"yes, you dimwit. but i'd love you more if you weren't useless."

"heyyy!"

"shh." mark pushes more notes towards the now pouting gryffindor, "it's okay. study."

jeno pulls the parchment towards him and sighs.

***

"it's wingardium levi _o_ sa." renjun hisses, nearly poking yukhei's eye out, "not levio _saa_!"

"i know!" yukhei squawks, "i literally passed my OWLs a year ago. when did i even say it _wasn't_ leviosa?"

"just now! you pronounced it wrong!"

"so? i'm not _doing_ the spell, i'm just talking about it." yukhei shrugs, "besides, i got it right in the exam last year."

renjun twitches, "well. maybe you should talk about it _correctly_ so that people who _are_ writing their charms OWLs this year won't make a mistake because of your _horrid pronunciation_."

"sweetheart, i doubt you'll get such an easy question wrong because i mispronounced it once-"

"-don't 'sweetheart' me, yukhei wong! one more mispronounced spell out of your mouth and i will hex you."

yukhei whimpers a little and tries to hide behind jeno, who sighs and says nothing.

"he means it's hard to get it wrong with your brains, injun." jaemin says, hoping to help his friend a bit, "you're too smart to make that mistake, even with yukhei saying stupid things all the time."

yukhei looks wounded, but knows better than to defend himself. he wants to live, after all. and he'd quite like to marry renjun someday, so it might be better if he just kept his mouth shut.

renjun's locked jaw loosens a little, "hm. i suppose that's true."

"yeah." yukhei nods vigorously, "you're smart and you work very hard. i'm sorry, i won't say anything."

renjun suddenly looks like he's about to cry. yukhei's expression morphs into one of alarm, but jaemin can understand renjun perfectly well- he has far more on his shoulders than yukhei did last year, even without quidditch. this is the problem that jaemin and renjun face, as opposed to jeno and donghyuck and mark and yukhei - they take the additional (very difficult) subject of arithmancy and ancient runes respectively, while donghyuck and jeno just have to stare into a crystal ball and predict deaths. the workload is no joke.

"babe, i'm sorry." yukhei is now petting renjun's hair, like he's afraid to upset him more. renjun just lets out a long, long sigh and buries his face into yukhei's chest.

"how about we catch you later?" jeno says tactfully, "come on, minnie."

jaemin blushes a little at the new nickname, but allows himself to be lead out and into another empty classroom by jeno. jeno kisses the back of his hand once as they close the door and cast a muffliato. jaemin giggles.

"renjun's really stressed, huh?" jeno watches jaemin untie a scroll of parchment. it's so long that it runs from the desk to the floor and all the way along the room. it looks like muggle toilet paper. jeno blinks.

"what..." he asks slowly, "is that."

jaemin suddenly feels like crying, too, looking at the unending scroll. and this is just a reference sheet.

he looks up at jeno with glossy eyes, "it's a arithmancy formula reference sheet. i have to memorise it. and this isn't even the actual difficult part."

"oh no." jeno panics the moment he sees the wetness in his boyfriend's gaze, "sweetheart, baby, love of my life- ok, shit, what do i say? you're working so hard. come here, do you want a hug? do you want me to shut up? omigosh, don't cry, fuck-"

jaemin lets out a little whimper. he really can't help it. he's good at every subject, besides history of magic. but arithmancy is by far the most difficult subject he has. one miscalculation- one tiny mistake could ruin an entire problem. just a few of those mistakes could make him fail, which would spoil all his plans. he's confident in everything else, but it's only with this one- no matter how much he works, he's afraid of running out of time during the exams or carelessly making errors.

the moment he sees how long just the list of formulas is, he just knows he's going to break down.

"shh, ok, no-" jeno gently removes the parchment from jaemin's hands so he can hold them instead. jeno's hands are big and warm and strong- he's able to hold both of jaemin's with just one of his own, "baby."

"arithmancy is hard." jaemin hiccups, tears rolling down his cheeks, "i'm going to fail. i've been studying all year and i still know nothing."

jeno thumbs away the tears and kisses his cheeks, "you're not going to fail, nana. i've seen you work hard at this all year long. and you still have time left- we still have five weeks. that's plenty of time. you're going to be fine."

"but what if i'm not?" jaemin practically wails. jeno holds him, rocking him back and forth.

"you will be. i promise. here, how about i help you? i don't actually know anything about arithmancy...is there anything i can do? want me to bring you food?"

jaemin loves jeno. jeno has OWLs, too, and jeno must be nervous. but here he is comforting jaemin. jaemin doesn't deserve him.

"no." he buries his face into the crook of jeno's neck, "just hug me. i love you lots, nono."

"nono." jeno teases softly, hugging him tighter, "nana and nono?"

jaemin laughs wetly.

"my little bun." jeno doesn't stop with the pet names, like he knows how much it placates jaemin, "my princess. my angel. i love you so much. you're so smart and hard working, everything will be alright, okay?"

eventually, jaemin stops crying, and jeno wipes his face and they kiss for a bit, and then jeno takes out his transfiguration notes, too, and the two of them go back in comfortable silence.

"if arithmancy makes my boyfriend cry again, i'll beat it up." jeno says jokingly, in an attempt to make the younger laugh.

it works. jaemin feels better, and he turns to face the list of formulae with a new determination.

***

"jaemin, listen to me, i am being one-hundred percent serious." jeno says, setting down his bag with a thump and regarding jaemin so firmly that the younger feels a little scared.

"what? are you okay? did something happen?"

"no, listen. i am going to answer something, and you need to answer me honestly. you can't just be like 'you'll be fine', i need an actual yes or no answer."

jaemin stares, a little nervous.

jeno sighs, running his hand through his hair, "jaemin, i know you've been working hard this past year helping me. and i'm studying hard and i'll really do my best. but if- _if_ it doesn't turn out as well as we'd hoped.... in transfiguration. will you- i mean, you've been helping me, and- i don't want you to-"

the slytherin waits patiently for his boyfriend to actually form a question for him to answer.

"like will you be angry?" jeno frowns, "no, you won't i meant like- upset. or disappointed. because i know how much effort you put in for me. i'm really trying hard, i promise i'm not slacking! but just- i don't know, it's still not my best subject, i'm just not naturally good at it. and after everything you've done for me- will you be- like-ugh, i don't know what i'm trying to ask."

"jeno, sit down." jaemin says, trying to calm him down. jeno does, looking agitated. jaemin gets up and settles himself on jeno's lap instead, calming him down by stroking his hair and rubbing his chest. it helps a little, but the older still looks far too serious, "what's the problem, hm? what question do you have for me?"

jeno lets out a breath but can't seem to find an answer.

"okay, that's fine." jaemin leans in to kiss him slowly. he knows his kisses calm jeno down as much as jeno's do to him. and now, with jeno's breathing returning to normal as he finally begins to kiss jaemin back, he hopes the boy will be a little more at ease.

jaemin doesn't pull away for a while. they stay like that, kissing for at least five minutes, parting momentarily to breath and tilt their heads in the opposite direction. jaemin takes control this time, and he's always gentle. jeno is, too. jeno is usually observant- soft when he needs to be, fierce when he needs to be. he always kisses with a passion that jaemin adores. jeno knows how to get him worked up in just the right ways, and jaemin will submit instantly.

now, though, when jaemin takes the lead, he wants it gentle. he doesn't want jeno any more worked up than he already is. he sucks jeno's bottom lip sweetly, lets his tongue play with the other's in all the right ways. jeno's grip on him goes from desperate to tender- just what jaemin had been hoping for. when jeno kisses him back now, it's relaxed. when he sucks on jaemin's tongue, it's leisure, like they have all the time in the world.

jeno looks dazed when they finally pull away from each other. his eyes are glazed with awe and his lips are red and he's looking at jaemin reverently. jaemin kisses his nose.

"are you feeling better?"

"mm." jeno's still regarding him wondrously, "you're good at that."

jaemin chuckles, blushing a little at his boyfriend's obvious heart-eyes, "now why don't you tell me what happened, hm?"

jeno bites his lip, as if wondering where to start, but jaemin thinks he already knows.

"i'll love you always." jaemin promises quietly, "you know, right? i've seen you working hard for the past year. i know how much effort you put in. that's why i keep saying you'll be fine- i don't think you'll do a bad job in your transfiguration exam."

jeno opens his mouth but jaemin is quick to cut him off.

"-but if." he continues, "if something doesn't go as well as you wanted...i won't be any less proud of you. you've worked really hard, jeno. i'm proud of all the effort you put in. just do your best, okay? that's all i need. no matter what happens, i promise you i won't regret even a second i spent tutoring you."

jeno cups jaemin's face in his hands, "you won't?"

"how could i?" jaemin tweaks his nose, "you're my best student."

"and only student."

"details." jaemin waves it off, "i'm serious- you've worked hard. it'll be fine. but no matter what the outcome is, i love you the most, and i'm always proud of you. for me, no time spent with you is a waste."

"wow." jeno mutters, like he can't believe that jaemin is real. jaemin feels the same about jeno sometimes, "i really love you, nana."

"i love you, too." he responds, leaning onto his chest, "my prince."

jaemin feels a soft kiss on his forehead. a warmth spreads through him, and he thinks, like this, whatever the outcome is, they'll be fine.

***

when donghyuck is nervous, he is either cuddly or bitchy.

unfortunately, today he is bitchy.

"fuck off." he snaps when jaemin asks him for a spare quill. 

jaemin knows these moods- he's known them since they were eleven, and it's honestly okay, because jaemin has his moments too. they deal with each other, they put up with each other's shit, they call each other out when they need to. they laugh together and cry together and defend each other. donghyuck is his best friend in the whole world.

he keeps telling himself this as he feels his temper rising.

jeno scowls a little at donghyuck's sharp tone, but doesn't say anything to stop him or defend jaemin. jaemin loves that about jeno. most people would think he'd want some support- and if it was someone else snapping at him, he would. 

but it's donghyuck. they've known each other for too long and too well, and jaemin's glad jeno accepts and understands their friendship. jaemin doesn't want anyone acting like they know more about his friendship with donghyuck than he himself does- just like he doesn't want anyone interfering in his relationship with jeno. the fact that donghyuck and jeno know that, and not only make sure not to cross boundaries, but also made sure to become genuine close friends so that jaemin can hang out with all of them together- he is so grateful.

he loves donghyuck. his best friend, he reminds himself again when donghyuck aggressively pulls the pot of ink away from jaemin.

"i was using that." jaemin says coldly.

"i know. but you won't be until you find yourself a quill."

donghyuck is all sass and eye-rolls. jaemin is all frigid and sarcasm. he sees chenel and jisung coil up slowly- they never want to be caught in the slytherin cross-fire.

"you have a spare. i saw you put it in your bag."

donghyuck snorts, "should've fucking put one in your bag yourself then."

"stop being pissy. i'm not asking for much."

"you're disturbing me. i'm trying to study."

jaemin makes a disgusted face at hyuck's divination book, "wow, must be super hard. how are you planning to die today? how about i punch you, that would do the trick."

donghyuck stares him down, "why don't you open your toilet roll of arithmancy formulae. you haven't got very far. it would be more useful than bothering me."

"i need a fucking spare quill and i know you have one."

"and i need a break from your voice."

"guys." yukhei tries, and jisung and chenle widen their eyes and shake their heads vigorously at him. yukhei doesn't give in, "maybe we should all take a breather."

jaemin doesn't know why he's annoyed at everyone now. _thanks hyuck_. he turns his icy gaze onto yukhei, "and are you planning to study arithmancy for me?"

yukhei shuts his mouth with a snap at jaemin's tone. jisung gives the older a look that says _i told you so_.

"nana baby, it's okay." jeno massages his shoulder, "i'll go get you a quill."

"you're studying too." jaemin pushes him back down, "don't trouble yourself because hyuck is being a bitch."

donghyuck laughs humourlessly, " _you_ forget your quill-"

"-i didn't forget, it _broke_ -"

"-you don't have the sense to pack a spare, you're too lazy to get up and get your own, and now you're blaming me because i don't want to give you one?"

_but why won't you just fucking give it to me, what else are you going to do with it?_ jaemin wants to scream. he's not even annoyed at the situation- just donghyuck's pissy attitude.

"fine." jaemin reaches over and pulls away the ink bottle. donghyuck makes a straight-out irritated noise.

"i was using that, jaemin."

"true. but it's mine." jaemin knows he's being petty, and he doesn't care, "you should've packed your own fucking ink bottle. boo-hoo."

"fine." donghyuck hisses.

jaemin sees jeno massage his temple, looking very tired and perplexed. do the gryffindor boys not argue over petty things when they're stressed or tired?

well, probably not. between the four of them, there's far too much chivalry and generosity for them to argue about inkpots and quills.

"baby." jeno whispers to him, "i can really go get a quill, and-"

"no."

jeno gulps and sits back, "yeah, i mean- no. no, of course not."

renjun pulls a face, "you two are idiots." he says squarely, and both donghyuck and jaemin turn simultaneously to glare at him so forcefully that he's at a loss for words.

"oh, so _now_ you team up." jeno mutters, quickly hiding behind yukhei before jaemin glares again.

"listen." mark stands up, looking very done, "i'm going to go get a fucking quill and a fucking ink pot."

"it's fine, mark-"

"-you shut up, nobody asked whether it's fine or not. when i say i'm going to do something, i'm not asking permission from a bunch of children."

jaemin and donghyuck shrink, but jaemin knows they deserve it. he's not stupid to think this is a fair adult thing to argue about- they _are_ being stupid. he can't help it. he wonders how jeno shoulders the pressure so gracefully. jeno is always so calm and patient. even at times when he should snap at jaemin, he takes things in his stride.

we balance each other out, jeno tells him. but jaemin just feels bad that he's the one that has to be balanced because he can be so up-and-down.

mark walks out on that note, and both the slytherins look down at the table, pointedly refusing to meet each other's- or anyone else's- gaze.

"mark is cool." he hears chenle whisper to jisung. yukhei snorts.

when mark comes back, tossing a quill at jaemin and setting a bottle of ink next to donghyuck, they both mutter "thanks." now that he has his quill, he keeps his focus on the parchment, refusing to let anyone see the sudden wetness in his eyes. why is he crying so much recently? it's not like anyone did anything wrong to him- he and donghyuck are just tired.

"you haven't known jaemin as long as i have." hyuck says to mark conversationally, "he gets like this. it's hard to put up with, but you'll get used to it."

it kind of stings. jaemin thought they could shut up and move on, but donghyuck seems hell-bent on continuing the argument. jaemin doesn't want to add more fuel to the fire- he's done enough. hyuck is just stressed out, and jaemin shouldn't have been so rude about it. he could have just gone and got his own quill. why didn't he?

because hyuck had a spare, for one. and two, he just didn't want to step down when hyuck snapped at him. he doesn't like giving in so easily. which is his fault, he admits. so he'll take this. he'll just shut up and let donghyuck vent.

mark seems to give up, anyway, because he shakes his head but doesn't say another word.

eventually, donghyuck snaps. even more than he already did.

"you're making that scratching sound on purpose." he hisses at jaemin, "you fucker, you know i don't like that."

jaemin blinks, shocked, "what? do you think i'm jobless?"

"you're being self-centered. think about other people for once. how are we supposed to focus if you keep scratching so loudly while you write?"

"i-"

"what, you want me to just be okay with it? you're not the only one writing OWLs-"

"-but i-"

"-either shut up or go work somewhere else."

honestly, jaemin doesn't know why it stings. but if his mere presence and the sounds of his quill annoy donghyuck, he supposes it's better to just leave and go to the library or something. he'll try to be the bigger person.

it's clear donghyuck is surprised when he actually gets up.

"where are you going?" jisung asks, shocked. jaemin lifts a shoulder.

"somewhere the sound of my fucking breathing won't make hyuck piss himself." he gives jeno a look that says _stay here_. he doesn't want hyuck to feel like they're taking sides. jaemin is just giving him a break. a little petty way to part, yeah- but he's jaemin. he can't help himself.

donghyuck is gazing at him, eyes wide and expression unreadable. jaemin understands- it's the first time jaemin has decided not to fight back. jeno does always tell him that when he thinks the situation is going to get unneccesarily out of hand, just give each other some space to cool down before talking again. maybe he's learning something from jeno after all.

nobody follows him when he leaves the room. he's glad they don't- it's the last thing he needs.

***

he sees jungwoo kim in the library. he's poring over a book, and jaemin remembers he's a seventh year. probably studying for NEWTs.

jungwoo smiles when he sees him, patting the chair next to him. jaemin takes it gratefully, "hey." he's careful to keep his voice down.

"hey. studying for OWLs?"

"arithmancy." jaemin takes out his 'toilet roll' parchment of formulae.

jungwoo winces with sympathy, "ouch. i've got ancient runes."

the two of them work in companionable silence for about one hour. jaemin's actually able to get shit done, and he's eternally grateful he left that classroom. he can finally breathe again and think straight. now that he looks back, he feels a teeny bit bad for retorting to every one of donghyuck's stress-induced quips.

donghyuck is his best friend, so jaemin knows him better than anyone. hyuck does that when he's nervous, and he'll apologize later. jaemin needs to stop being so hot-headed.

"you good?" jungwoo asks, closing his book softly. it's only then that jaemin realises he's been staring blankly into space. he quickly snaps himself out of it.

"hm? yeah, sorry. just..."

"stressed?" they both stand up, the older boy holding open the door for jaemin, "i get you. i've been snapping at everyone all week."

jaemin can't imagine the kind, puppy-eyed senior snapping, "me too. i just fought with my friend over a quill."

"exams can be like that. but i'll tell you something- sometimes, it's good to take a breather. don't get lost in it." jungwoo smiles, "you play quidditch, don't you? you should go flying to relax or something. some fresh air works better than you think."

"i might actually do that."

"i haven't seen jeno all month." the older adds, "tell him i say hi. tell him to come hang out some time, maybe, when we're both taking breaks."

"i will. i have to go find him now, actually. i haven't seen him for the past-"

"-nana!"

jungwoo and jaemin both whip around to see jeno hurrying towards them.

"hi, jungwoo." he greets with his pretty eye-smile, wrapping an arm around jaemin's waist, "how are NEWTs stuff going?"

"like hell." jungwoo replies cheerfully, "i was just asking jaemin about you. you guys should come hang out some time."

they part ways after a few more minutes, jungwoo heading to the common room, and jeno and jaemin aiming for a leisure walk around the castle.

"are you okay?" jeno regards him carefully. 

jaemin laughs, "i'm okay, babe. i just got too heated in the moment- i need to work on that. hyuck usually gets like that when he's stressed....it's just that i can't take it when people snap at me. i need to work on patience."

"you could have just let it be when he first told you to fuck off." jeno agrees reproachfully, "or just understood he was stressed and got your own quil. that would have saved a lot of argument. but also, he shouldn't have been so rude in the beginning either- and you can't just let him get away with being snappy whenever he's stressed."

"yeah. we were both childish, i guess." jaemin chances a smile at his boyfriend, "don't you ever have stupid fights with mark and yukhei?"

"well..." jeno thinks, "we don't fight about quills."

"jen."

"i'm kidding." he laughs, "well, we're a little more patient than you two, so when we fight, it's usually about something serious. we don't snap over small things or out of stress usually."

"fucking gryffindors."

jeno pauses for a minute, and then groans, "damn, i was so tempted to make a 'you're fucking this gryffindor' joke, but then i remembered we're not fucking."

"yet." jaemin snorts at his eloquence, "we will eventually, jeno."

jeno perks up, trying very hard to mask it, "i don't want to do anything you're not comfortable with. i don't mind waiting even for ten years."

jaemin chuckles, thinking of the way he thirsts after jeno's abs and chest and biceps, "yeah, i don't think it'll be that long, babe."

jeno perks up even more, "really?" then he coughs, "i mean- oh. really. well, whenever you choose is fine."

"you dork." the slytherin mutters, shoving jeno a little, "just say you're horny for me and go."

"i'm horny for you." jeno says obediently, "but i'll only activate it when you tell me to."

"i'll only activ- oh my god, jeno lee, just shut up. you sound like a superhero comic."

"how else do i put it?" he whines.

"where are all your sweet pretty words now?"

"i thirst after your cute butt, but i won't act on it until you want me to. and even if you never do, it's okay, because it's your heart i love more than anything."

jaemin stops, heart beating out of control at the sudden romantic confession. oh, he thinks, cheeks darkening when jeno gives him a shy smile.

jeno leaves him breathless sometimes. with words like this, so sweet and genuine. so honest. so _jeno_. jaemin feels like crying again.

_even if you never do, it's okay, because it's your heart i love more than anything._

well, fuck. jaemin is going to marry this man one day. he promises it right now.

"i love you more than anything." he whispers, and jeno gives him that beautiful smile of his.

they walk in silence after that. an enamoured, shimmering type of silence. so pure and pristine that jaemin's afraid to shatter it. eventually though, it's jeno who does, with a small kiss sound when he pecks jaemin's lips.

"you're so romantic." jaemin sighs happily, snuggling into jeno's chest.

"you're so cute."

"ugh. you earn points every day. you'll get my cute butt sooner than you think."

"ooh." jeno reaches down to give his bum a little squeeze and jaemin squeals.

"can't wait." the gryffindor winks teasingly, and jaemin blushes bright, bright red.

his devilishly handsome boyfriend is going to be the death of him.

***

donghyuck apologizes first.

jaemin's surprised, because he was going to do it. he was going to finish this last set of arithmancy problems, and then go to the dorm and crawl into hyuck's bed and cuddle him like they've always done after a fight, ever since they were eleven. (he's mentioned this to jeno once, and was glad that jeno thought it was cute. "i can't be jealous of you with hyuck." he'd snorted "even i know that's a stupid thing to be jealous about.")

"i'm sorry about the quill." the boy mutters, unable to meet jaemin's eye, "and the pissy attitude. and bitching you out of the room."

jaemin laughs a little at how he'd put it, "that's okay. i'm sorry, too. i know you were just stressed. i probably should 't have kept back-answering, huh?"

"yeah." hyuck looks rueful, "i need to work on that, too."

"i should've gotten my own quill after the first time."

"i didn't mean any of the things i said." hyuck says in a rush, like he's been wanting to say it from the beginning, "and i shouldn't have gone that far even if i was stressed, especially because you stopped back-answering after that. i was just in a bad mood and i took it out on you because- i don't know, you're the only one who won't hate me for it. which is a horrible excuse, because why would you snap at the one person who's always there for you just because you know they'd always be there? damn, that sounds so bad, i'm sorry-"

"hyuck." jaemin coos. his best friend really overthought everything. jaemin didn't even take it that seriously.

because he knows. he's glad he can be that person for donghyuck- donghyuck is that for him, too. and honestly, it hadn't even been that deep. they were both stressed and they snapped, and next time they should keep a better check on their attitude.

"what?" the boy mumbles. jaemin envelopes him in their usual bone-crushing hug.

"you stupid. i don't care that much. it's okay. it was my fault, too, honestly- i egged you on because i can be petty like that. i won't do it from now on. i'll try not to, at least- don't look so sad."

"are we good?" hyuck asks hopefully.

jaemin beams, feeling fully happy again, "yeah. let's cuddle."

"nobody would know you had a boyfriend, with how much you demand for cuddles." donghyuck says dryly.

"you can never have too many cuddles."

"i guess that's true."

they go to bed all warm and wrapped around each other (very, very platonically. they have mastered the art of bro-cuddling over the past five years. being easily the most affectionate, touchy members of their group, it makes sense that they would be the ones to establish the art of platonic- _bromantic_ , they call it- skinship). 

"let's get OWLs over with." hyuck yawns, "i'm done with being tired and stressed 25/8."

"same." jaemin stretches, "i haven't been able to think about anything else all month."

"did you hear that janice midgen from hufflepuff had to take a calming draught?" donghyuck lowers his voice so that their dorm-mates don't overhear their gossip, "she was dragged out of d.a.d.a. yesterday morning because she freaked out over something stupid, like a grindylow, i think."

"are you serious?"

"it was insane. i heard from my friend from divination. she said nobody could control her so they had to ask her friend to pull her all the way to pomfrey."

"fuck." jaemin lets out a breath, "we're doing alright, aren't we?"

"i'd say."

"and once we're done, you can focus on other things. like mark."

donghyuck splutters, turning bright red in a very un-hyuck-like manner, "what are you talking about?"

"oh, shut up. literally everyone knows." jaemin smirks, "you aren't subtle or anything. i can spot how much you like him from a mile."

"shut up."

"you're not denyinggg." jaemin sings, giving his friend a serious glance, masked by a smile, "you do like him, don't you?"

for a long moment, donghyuck doesn't speak. then he jerks his head in something that jaemin knows is a nod only because of their past five years of friendship. jaemin punches the air with his fist.

"i knew it!"

"shut _up_!" donghyuck hisses, "we don't want the whole dorm finding out!"

"sorry, sorry- i think he likes you, too." jaemin beams, "i really do. so do renjun and jeno."

hyuck sighs, rubbing his face with his hands, "it took me long enough to accept the fact that i like him. i don't need more to think about just yet. my brain might explode."

"fair enough. but after the exams we are _definitely_ talking about this."

"jaemin."

"definitely."

hyuck sighs exasperatedly, but he's grinning a bit, lifting a shoulder, "fine."

jaemin cheers.


	2. ii.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!
> 
> thank you for such an overwhelming response on the first chapter! it made me so happy!!
> 
> here's the next update. warning for nomin getting a little steamy (nothing too extreme haha. they are going at their own pace, this is just jaemin getting a bit more comfortable).
> 
> do let me know what you think of this update!! <3

"jeno, you're so cute." jaemin coos. 

jeno blinks, "what did i do?"

"nothing. you're just cute."

"oh." jeno eyes him, "are you okay?"

"what do you mean?" jaemin whines, "i call you cute all the time! it's not weird at all!"

"it's not, i'm just asking." the gryffindor chuckles, "but thank you, baby."

"mm." jaemin props his chin on his palms to watch jeno study, "do i creep you out staring like this?"

"nope, because you're cute, too." jeno looks suddenly mischievous, "how about a kiss for every page i finish?"

"you know my deal is a make-out session every chapter."

"that's because _you_ can't resist."

"neither can you! you said i'm pretty and addictive! are you lying?"

"what?" jeno splutters, "no, no, why would i- you _are_ the prettiest and most addictive, i was- i was just- oh my god." he pauses when he he sees jaemin hunch his shoulders to hide his silent laughter at jeno's panic, "why are you always fucking with me? you are so slytherin. you're evil."

"i thought i was your angel." jaemin manages through his laughter.

"you are the devil. get away from me."

"well, that's no way to talk to your boyfriend." jaemin pouts, "you hurt me."

jeno rolls his eyes.

"jenoooo, come kiss it better!"

"where did i hurt you, baby?" jeno raises an eyebrow, and jaemin points to his lips. jeno snorts, "me calling you a devil hurt your mouth? i don't think so..."

"it did. if you say mean words with your mouth, it hurts my mouth. you know why? it's because your pain is my pain."

the gryffindor looks so utterly lost, "what are you even saying?"

"i don't know." jaemin huffs, plopping himself down on jeno's lap, "i just want a kiss. is it so difficult to indulge me?"

"i mean, you could have just asked-"

"-i did!-"

"-well, not really, you started saying- _mmm_ "

jaemin's an impatient person. he can't help it, when he curls his fingers around jeno's red and gold tie and tugs him forward to kiss him, all deep and hot, the way he knows the older likes.

he can't help it when jeno groans in pleasure when he does that _thing_ with his tongue, the thing that gets jeno all worked up and aggresive. an aggressive jeno is so, so hot.

he can't help it when he whines, just perfectly high-pitched and breathy, enough for jeno to pick him up and _squeeze_ his ass, enough for jaemin to squeak again. 

jaemin loves everything about the kiss, the fire and intensity and fierce way jeno just gives it to him. one day, when he lets go of his fear, jaemin will let jeno take his body however he wants. he'll spread himself open and give himself over, because just from the way jeno kisses- gentle despite the passion, safe despite the roughness- he knows jeno will take care of him. he knows jeno will fucking _love_ him so well, every inch of his body- jaemin knows this by heart.

his hands are so big, and jaemin's waist practically disappears in his hold. he loves how small he feels. he loves how jeno can pick him up like he weighs nothing. he loves the way jeno draws all these sounds out of him, loves the way jeno growls and touches and kisses and takes- jeno can have all of him. 

when they pull away, their lips are red and swollem, they're panting, hearts racing, pupils blown wide.

"baby." jeno's voice breaks, "you- i-"

"- i know." jaemin whimpers, "i'm sorry, jeno. i'll- i'll try to give my body to you soon-."

"it doesn't have to be soon." jeno rushes to tell him, "and you're not _giving_ me your body. you're very kindly letting me take care of it for some time, and i will be grateful whenever you choose to let it happen."

"i want to...but i just don't know when i'll be able to let go." jaemin looks up at him.

"you don't even have to give me a time." jeno murmurs, kissing up his jaw, "i'm ready when you are, and _only_ when you are. my heart and body are already yours."

jaemin's breath hitches at the thought of jeno's body. the defined muscle and toned chest- jeno's hiding an adonis body under those robes, jaemin's sure of that much. he might not be able to keep composure when he sees that.

"i'll take care of you." jeno promises, breath hot against his ear, "i love you, nana."

"i love you." jaemin parrots back, eyes sparkling, "i'd also like to let you know that this is basically pre-paying. you got the kisses before you studied the chapters. this would count for at least three."

jeno groans, and jaemin laughs.

***

"oh my god, they've lost it." jisung whispers, watching the four fifth-years huddled around the gryffindor common room fire place.

"guys?" yukhei calls out carefully, "are you okay?"

"yeah!"

"no."

"do we _look_ okay?"

"shut up."

yukhei blinks at the four completely different answers provided by jaemin, jeno, donghyuck and renjun respectively.

"maybe we should just take jaemin's word for it and assume they're fine." chenle suggests.

they turn back to the boys. renjun is standing on one foot and trying to recite a very complicated charm. donghyuck has his eyes shut as he recalls the ingredients to a potion jisung knows is from third year. jeno is slumped against the brick next to the hearth, book in hand, but eyes staring into space. and jaemin is holding his toilet-roll parchment of arithmancy formulae dangerously close to the fire, as if he would like nothing more than to burn it to ashes.

"...yeah..." mark echoes.

"yukhei." renjun finally peels himself away from the group. they're getting a lot of weird stares from the other gryffindors. jisung's not sure why the other three (besides jeno) always turn up in their house robes. it would be easier to just wear normal clothes and _not_ draw attention to the out-of-place colour.

"come here, jun." yukhei immediately catches renjun into his arms, his big frame enveloping the smaller one immediately, "what's wrong?"

"will you still love me even if i fail? what if i'm dependant on you forever because i'll never succeed?"

"babe, if i can do well in OWLs, a genius like you will be fine."

renjun says nothing.

"um, jisung." chenle pokes him, "usually, stopping jaemin from burning his notes would be jeno's or hyuck's job. but, um-"

ah, yes. jeno and hyuck are currently....occupied.

"jaemin hyung." jisung hurries to him, carefully plucking the very, very, very long scroll away, "why don't you sit down for some time?"

jaemin looks like he's seen nearly-headless-nick without the head, "sit?" he repeats, blinking slowly.

"omigod." chenle gazes at hyuck and jeno, who haven't moved at all, "hyuck, jeno, you, too. come sit."

"i'll get hyuck." mark volunteers apprehensively. this would result in a lot of teasing and eyebrow raises usually, but under this circumstance, literally no one cares.

"we are going to be like that next year." jisung mutters to chenle, pointing and jaemin and jeno, "because we're both in the same year. we're going to die together."

"jaemin won't let us die." chenle whispers, "right?"

more silence. jaemin begins making that scratchy quill sound again. donghyuck is too out-of-it to notice. jeno flips ten pages at once without looking. renjun has gone back to reciting random charms.

yukhei looks like he's going to cry.

"good thing you and renjun aren't taking the exam together." mark says under his breath, also watching jeno and jaemin, "not sure how much good that would have done."

"jaemin hyung." jisung tries, kneeling in front of his cousin, 'take a break. i think you should eat."

jaemin nods slowly.

"you agree? fuck, okay, i didn't get that far- i have a chocolate frog. do you want one?"

jaemin nods again. jisung turns expectantly to chenle, who sighs and pouts and takes the last one out of his pocket, "you owe me, park."

"you literally own the chocolate frog company."

"i do not. that's stupid. my family owns that group of wizarding schools across china, remember? not _chocolate frogs._ "

jisung takes another breath, steadying himself, "okay. okay, right. your family owns- yeah, no, of course. sorry."

"it's okay."

"yeah. it's." another deep breath, "i am too young to deal with this shit. mark, what are you doing, help me!"

"he won't stop repeating the same ingredient!" mark panics, shaking hyuck's shoulder. hyuck pushes him away and mark groans, "he said 3 pieces of chopped parsley seven times. seven!"

"yukhei?"

yukhei's big eyes regard jisung wearily. renjun flourishes his wand a little to hard at an apple he brought to practice on. it turns to pulp. yukhei swallows.

"je...no?" jisung tries, hoping maybe his friend has come to a better state of mind. jeno is turning a page every other second, eyes scanning furiously, muttering to himself. jisung looks helplessly back at chenle.

"jaemin..." chenle finally steps in, "how about you sleep for an hour? maybe all four of you need some-"

"no!"

all four of them managed to hear only that one suggestion, and all of them shut chenle down so viciously that he nearly falls over from the sudden noise. jisung squeezes his elbow in silent support.

"jaemin, you look tired." mark says, concerned, "like, i mean it. i'm afraid you're going to fall flat. you look dead."

"why would you know how he looks?" jeno looks up from his book, glaring, "stop staring at my boyfriend."

"oh, _that's_ what gets his attention-"

"-jeno, jeno, mark said jaemin's pink hair was pretty." it's surprising how quickly hyuck snaps out of his exam-induced stupor. his favourite pastime is using mark to rile up jeno for laughs. it's pretty funny, to be fair, "he said it last week."

"fuck off." jeno snarls at both of them, "nana's pretty, but he's my boyfriend. so fucking get your own."

jaemin is back to agonizing over his notes. that basically undoes all the progress. jeno is lost in his book once more, and hyuck begins feverishly repeating another potions procedure.

"were you like this last year?" chenle asks the oldest two. yukhei shrugs.

"i'm not sure. exam period passed in kind of a blur. i don't remember anything- it's like i was drunk the whole time."

chenle eyes him warily.

"i wasn't actually drunk." yukhei is hasty to assure, "i had exams."

jisung wraps his arm around chenle's waist in a back-hug. the hufflepuff leans back into his chest, breathing in, "maybe we should just leave them alone."

mark is now watching them instead of the other four, eyebrows raised. chenle looks at him pleadingly, as if saying _don't make fun of us, because if you do he won't hug me anymore_. mark's eyes soften and he looks away.

"your hair's soft." jisung mutters, "you smell like baby powder. and milk. and lotion."

"baby powder and milk?" chenle repeats teasingly, "jaemin would hate me then."

"it's so nice." jisung nuzzles his shoulder, "you're so comfortable, chenle-ya."

"am i pretty too?"

"the prettiest. what about me?"

'you're the handsomest and the cutest in the whole world."

_i really mean that so much more than you probably do. so much that it physically hurts me to say._

"as expected, my best friend." jisung finally pulls away, ruffling chenle's hair. chenle smiles his brightest smile and knows he'll hear the words _best friend_ in his head all day. but it's okay- it's jisung. they are best friends above everything.

"guys." yukhei's voice cuts through their little bubble, "sorry, but i think we need to get jaemin away from the fire place. he's going to burn that long-ass roll of parchment."

"again?" jisung groans, hurrying back to his cousin.

chenle wonders whether they can put up with this for four more weeks. but remembering that it's most likely jaemin who is single-handedly going to be taking care of all four of them- chenle, jisung, yukhei and mark- next year when they have their OWLs and NEWTs..... he decides he can do his best to help out now in return, at least.

***

"okay, but did you know there's a potion that's basically the wizarding equivalent of viagra?" jaemin asks conversationally.

jisung chokes on his pancake. mark looks highly interested.

"really? that's so weird. but not really surprising when you think about it- it is magic, after all."

"true, but isn't it just interesting that it does the same thing?" jaemin shows mark the page, "look, it's literally the same thing- make a potion to excite the hormones."

"is that part of fifth year?"

"no, i just found it randomly." jaemin rolls his eyes, "why would they teach us how to make viagra?"

donghyuck looks up from his herbology book slowly, gazing at jaemin as though he's never seen him before, "is someone going to tell me what the fuck a viagra is?"

jaemin wordlessly turns the book around for the others to read, "viagra is basically a muggle version of this."

"hmm." yukhei frowns at the page, "lust draught."

"jaemin." renjun sighs, "not at the dinner table please."

"sorry, sorry. i just thought it was fascinating."

"of course you did."

"it's for future reference." donghyuck smirks, "be careful, jeno."

jeno is in two minds- his rational side is telling him to just flush and mutter like he usually does when his friends target him during sexual discussions. his slightly more 'boisterous stupid gryffindor side', as jaemin puts it, tells him to roll with it and have some fun.

he listens to his gryffindor side.

"i won't need lust draught if i've got jaeminnie." jeno smirks right back at donghyuck, whose mouth drops open. 

jisung chokes all over again and chenle is thumping his back and mark bursts out laughing, and renjun groans while yukhei applauds.

jaemin turns scarlet. he is basically the same colour as jeno's house tie. it's clear he has no words for the situation, because he just blubbers for a few minutes and then stuffs his mouth with toast. jeno counts it as a win.

jaemin is about to manage a retort when there's a sudden noise, sort of like a rattling. the entire great hall has heard it, and soon everyone is turning to look. they find the source soon- on the walls, the giant glass hourglasses that manage the house points. they watch with wide eyes as emeralds fall- they keep falling, there's no stop.

"what the fuck." donghyuck whispers. the rattling finally comes to a halt, about two hundred emeralds later.

jaemin is thunderstruck, "did slytherin just lose two hundred points?"

the rest of the slytherin table is in a similar state of panic- and the rest of the school is in absolute shock. it's unheard of for a house to lose more than a hundred points in one shot, and even those are rare.

"what is going on." jisung turns to the professor's table. they haven't flinched, but some of them do look surprised.

the pandemonium doesn't die down- it becomes louder as people swap more theories about what just happened. renjun slams his book shut in frustration.

"i can't concentrate here. guys, let's find somewhere else to sit."

"but i wanna know what just happened!" chenle protests, eyes still on the half-empty slytherin hourglass, "that was insane."

"we need to study."

ten minutes later, renjun has managed to drag all of them out of the great hall and to some empty classroom. donghyuck and jaemin are in a terrible mood- of course, they just lost all the points they earned the past year.

"if you really loved me, you wouldn't look so happy about this." jaemin sulks at jeno.

jeno tries to school his pleased expression into a more sympathetic one. it doesn't work, "sorry. but we didn't really want the snakes to win this year anyway. you won last year."

"and the year before." mark adds.

"and before that." jisung continues.

"and we would've won this year, too." donghyuck says darkly, "if it wasn't for some stupid dimwit. i'm willing to bet it was a first-year. probably tried to lure the giant spider into the castle."

mark, jeno, renjun and yukhei regard him carefully.

"not that we have ever tried to do that." jisung says, a beat late, and far too unconvincingly.

"right." renjun shakes his head, "right."

" _any_ way." chenle cuts in, "moving on. i really wonder what happened, though. hyuck, jaemin, if you find out, you'll tell us, right?"

"of course. not like we can do much else to save ourselves anyway."

"i don't even want to go back to the dungeons." jaemin mutters, "everyone's gonna be _pissed_

. wonder who's the poor kid that was stupid enough to get into this kind of trouble. the house is gonna hate them."

"maybe it's not a kid."

"200 points." hyuck reminds, "you're telling me a senior would have lost us 200 points?"

"it might be like another silverstein." renjun says, "he lost us a lot, too. during the game last term."

"but not this much- his punishments were mostly private." jisung retorts, "which is fair, because the whole house shouldn't suffer that much because of him. if someone lost 200 house points at once...i don't even want to know what they did."

"wonder who it is." yukhei says thoughtfully, "they're not gonna own up for sure. we might never know."

"oh, you don't know the snakes." jaemin says grimly, "i guarantee you, by dinner tomorrow, the whole slytherin will know exactly who it was. give it another day and we'll know why, too."

"we better." hyuck hisses, "so i can give them a piece of my mind."

"no." jaemin snaps, "what, so you can lose us even more points? we barely have enough time to earn back half of those points by the end-year feast."

hyuck slumps, "yeah, i guess that's true."

mark massages hyuck's shoulder, "how about we just focus on our prep for now? let's not worry about other details."

"easy for you to say." jaemin mutters, "you didn't just lose fifty points for no reason."

he still sits down, though, snuggling into jeno's side and wrapping his arms around the boy's bicep. jeno smiles, kissing his hair.

the exam is soon, after all. they don't have much of a choice.

***

"yo, na! lee!" 

it's saturday morning when a very pretty slytherin girl slides herself in next to jaemin at the great hall, completely ignoring the other six boys' confused glances.

"yo, hwang." jaemin reaches for a glass of pumpkin juice, offering it to her. she takes it gratefully.

"what's up?" hyuck leans forward, eyes glinting, "you have some news for us?"

"you bet i do."

"oh, wait, guys-" jaemin chances a glance around the table, realizing how puzzled his friends were, "this is yeji hwang. she's in fifth year, too. yeji, these are my friends- mark, yukhei, jeno, renjun, chenle, jisung."

"i know renjun." she nods at the boy, "and i've seen him too." she squints at jeno, "i don't know your name, but i do know you play quidditch. you're in fifth, too, right?"

"my name's jeno." jeno internally pouts a little, and jaemin rolls his eyes.

"you know jeno, yej. he's my boyfriend."

"ohhh, he's the boyfriend." yeji looks him up and down, "lia was right, you do have a type, jaemin. anyway, so i was talking to selena, who was talking to jason, who was talking to minho, who heard everything with an extendable ear-"

"-are you sure it's even true at this point?" hyuck raises an eyebrow, "if it came through selena, then-"

"-no, it's true." yeji cuts him off impatiently, "i asked around."

jisung looks bored, "what are you guys even talking about?"

"the reason slytherin lost 200 points." jaemin explains, "we've been trying to figure out since yesterday."

"well, i'm not sure about all the details, but i have the basic facts down." yeji says smugly, "and you will never believe it."

"will you hurry up?"

"first of all, it's only because of one person. second, it's a fifth year."

the group makes sounds of disbelief.

"tell me, you two." yeji looks far too pleased to be the one with the news, "have you seen your dear prefect at all since yesterday?"

hyuck snorts, "jamieson? as if we would have- poor guy'll be busy trying to sort out this whole fiasco. i bet he was up all night."

"not if he was the one who caused it."

donghyuck freezes. jaemin's mouth drops open. the rest of their friends crane their necks to listen.

"no way." jaemin shakes his head in disbelief, "are you telling me jaemieson- _jamieson_ \- lost us 200 points at one go? that's fucking insane. he's too much of a goody type. he's the bloody prefect."

"not anymore." yeji smirks, "the announcement will be made on monday, apparently, to slytherins alone. he's been sacked, and lara's going to be the only fifth-year prefect for the rest of the term. they're going to choose a new one over the summer."

jaemin and donghyuck are both at a loss for words. their year is quite big, so the boys dorms have been split in two, to accomadate all 10 fifth-year slytherins. since jamieson wasn't even in their dorm, they didn't have a chance to see him often enough to notice he was missing last night.

"what did he do, though?" yukhei asks, eyes wide.

"apparently he was caught stealing." yeji's cat-like eyes suddenly look a bit more serious, "apparently he's been doing it for a while. money, equipment, all sorts of things. from professors, too."

"no way." donghyuck looks shaken.

"there's a rumour that he was caught while trying to find the OWL question papers in the headmistress's office. fucking stupid- they only come in the morning of examination day. how did he not know?"

"how did they know he was the one stealing money and stuff before?" jaemin asks.

"he panicked and confessed, as far as minho said." yeji looks uncomfortable, "it's...not just professors. he'd been stealing from people in his dorms, too. they just kept assuming they lost it or misplaced it."

"jamieson." jaemin repeats, "i can't believe it. he's a prefect. and even if he isn't, it's a foul thing to do."

"don't have to tell me twice." the girl takes a swig of juice, "that's not the worst. this is just a rumour- the biggest one of all. i'm sure he'd be expelled if it was true, but we'll have to wait and see to know for sure."

"what?"

"so he was caught by filch, right? in the headmistress's office." yeji lowers her voice, expression uncomfortable, "so he tried to obliviate him."

jaemin chokes, "what?!"

"it's awful, isn't it? heavens knows i despise filch, but obliviating him.... that's." she shakes her head, "and we don't even know how, we've never learnt. yet. i suppose he's read about it in theory and tried it out for the first time."

"filch is a squib." jeno looks horrified, "he's not magic. he can't even fight back. i know he's annoying, but this is just foul."

"that's so vile." mark mutters, "and it sucks, because after so many years since the war, and with the slytherin house redeeming themselves and everyone getting along.....he's just bringing down their reputation and all the hard work."

you can say that again, jaemin thinks glumly

yeji clears her throat, "the spell didn't work." she says, "it went wrong, obviously, because he didn't do it right. luckily nothing happened to filch. jamieson just blew up some shit by accident, and mrs. norris had brought mcgonagall by then. according to the stories, at least."

it takes a while for them to process this. yeji eventually bids them farewell and hurries to the ravenclaw table for her friend lia. the rest of the group sit in silence, occasionally muttering in disbelief.

"i wonder who'll be the new prefect." jeno says, stroking jaemin's knuckles lightly, "someone from our year, right? if jamieson gets sacked as prefect, it has to be someone from our year to replace him."

"maybe damien." jaemin shrugs, 'but honestly, i want to know the full story. this is crazy."

"let's not trouble ourselves with this now, though." yukhei says, "we have a lot of work today. don't get distracted."

they decide to listen to him, pushing the news to the back of their minds for the time being. jeno kisses the back of jaemin's hand while they study, so natural that he doesn't even realize.

jaemin blushes and smiles and doesn't pull away.

***

on monday, the slytherins are gathered in the dungeons and informed that 'for personal reasons', jamieson will step down as the fifth-year slytherin prefect, and will not reprise his position in the following year, either. 

lara, the other fifth-year prefect, will carry on alone for the remainder of the term, until the professors decided on jamieson's replacement for next year.

jamieson isn't there.

on wednesday, it is confirmed that jamieson will return only to write his OWLs.

on thursday, it is confirmed that he is not allowed to return for his sixth and seventh years at hogwarts, because of his violations of not only hogwarts' school rules, but also the ministry's law of abuse of magic, especially against one of non-magic abilities. 

"he's being expelled?" chenle asks in disbelief.

"what do you expect, though?" yukhei frowns, "i can list out all the things he's done wrong. stealing, for one. attempting obliviation without knowing how, two. you know how dangerous that is? ever heard of gilderoy lokhart? he used to teach here, and he wrote some fake books and stuff."

"isn't he the one who's permanently in st.mungos?" jeno asks, "we go there sometimes, because mum works there. he has his own room now."

"he tried to obliviate ron weasley, but his wand backfired and he obliviated himself instead. lead to permanent brain damage and memory loss."

"we don't learn obliviate till seventh year." mark says quietly, "because it's so sensitive and dangerous. playing with the mind is always dangerous. attempting obliviation just from theory....if it goes too wrong, the victim can end up brain dead."

there's a moment of silence as they process this.

"and imagine doing it to someone who we know doesn't have a wand and can't protego or anything." jisung shakes his head, "that's awful, even if it is filch."

"oblviating anyone before the age of seventeen, no matter where you are, is illegal." jaemin says, "obliviating someone without learning how is also illegal. and students obliviating any staff is absolutely against the school rules. i knew he'd be expelled for this, plus the stealing....but i wonder if the ministry will take it up further."

"a student who could've caused brain damage to a long-standing hogwarts staff member..." hyuck furrows his brow, "and you know how the ministry has this high regard for all the staff who've been here since before the war, and during the battle of hogwarts and all. filch fought in the war without a wand. he's not even magic. he's irritating as hell, but you've got to admire that- doing something so dangerous to him is just not okay."

"hogwarts has become firmer about expulsions since harry potter's time." chenle adds, "he got into a load of shit, but he never got expelled. maybe because the headmaster was dumbledore. i don't know."

"wasn't hagrid expelled?"

"we all know that story. he was framed by voldemort."

"well, hagrid didn't steal things and then try to illegally obliviate the hogwarts caretaker." jaemin says sharply, "must i remind you- _again_ \- of how it can cause _permanent brain damage_?"

mark sighs, "crazy business, honestly. and right before OWLs, too."

"don't worry yourself over this." yukhei tells them. or renjun, specifically, because he's pressing soft kisses to the boy's hair. 

renjun, for once, doesn't push him away and hide his face. he just resigns himself to it with a tiny smile on his lips. donghyuck coos mockingly.

"we have 10 days." jeno says, stretching a little, "jaemin, baby, did you manage to finish that long parchment?"

"yeah, yesterday." jaemin silently celebrates the fact that he actually got through all the arithmancy formulae.

"and you've memorised it all?"

"yup." jaemin beams, accepting his reward- a kiss, of course,"and i did a bunch of quizzes, too."

"how's the transfiguration theory going?" mark smirks at jeno, who groans noisily.

"it's hell. don't ask."

"it's a lot easier than arithmancy!" jaemin whines.

"you're just good at it."

"you can be, too, if you study hard enough."

"i am, it's just so complicated." jeno pouts, "i need motivation."

"i'll take you to my grandparents' house with my and jisung this summer, for a week or so." jaemin suggests, "you can live like a muggle."

jeno perks up, looking amazed, "really?" he whispers, "like a muggle? i can watch television?"

jaemin giggles, "if you study hard now, then you absolutely can."

"how cool." chenle says enviously, "i want to come, too."

"please do." jisung begs, "come the same week as jeno. i will not third wheel for a whole week. i'll show you how to use phones, lele."

chenle lights up, too, "really?"

"aww, couples vacation!" renjun says evilly, and donghyuck snorts with laughter. chenle glowers at him.

jaemin hopes jisung figures it out soon- he's not sure chenle can last much longer. but that's the thing with chenle- he's nothing if not so intensely loyal. the fire in chenle's heart might burn out eventually, just tired of being overlooked and unnoticed. but chenle will always be _there_ , no matter what. because he's chenle. and because jisung is that important to him. even when it hurts, and even when he feels like crying, chenle will be there.

it hurts jaemin, too. if jisung knew, it would hurt him the most. oblivious and slow as he might be, if there was anything he hated, it was upsetting chenle.

on some days, watching them laugh together, jaemin thinks they'll be alright, no doubt about it. and on other days, like this one, jaemin hopes that chenle has the strength to hold on for a little longer.

***

"hey, babydoll." jeno coos, and jaemin turns pink at the new nickname.

"jen."

"hm?" jeno raises an eyebrow, the picture of smug, "you don't like it?"

jaemin thinks of how alluring and _hot_ it sounds from jeno's lips. _babydoll_ , because jeno always compliments jaemin's blushy cheeks and pink lips and doe eyes and candy floss hair. because jeno always wraps his hands around jaemin's small waist to watch it disappear under his hold. because jeno always strokes his smooth, lotus-like skin and murmurs lovingly about how he smells like peaches and vanilla.

he likes being jeno's doll.

"this one's just for us, right?" jaemin asks shyly. he can't imagine jeno calling him that in front of their friends.

"it's just for us." jeno assures him, pulling him forward so jaemin's in his lap, "you know you're my pretty doll, right?"

"mm." jaemin's breathing quickens at how deep jeno's voice is. it's his _i mean business_ voice, and it gets jaemin all worked up and needy for kisses.

"i want an answer, baby."

"i know." jaemin manages, "i'm your doll, jeno."

"the prettiest." jeno rewards him with a gorgeous eye-smile and a sensual kiss. jaemin chases after him when he pulls away, whining.

"jeno!" he pleads.

jeno's smirk widens, "a greedy princess today, aren't we?"

"just wanna kiss, jen-"

"-okay, nana, come here." jeno cups his face again, "come here and let me kiss you."

jaemin parts his lips a _tiny_ bit, and jeno takes advantage of it to stick his tongue in. jaemin moans, sucking on it.

"bet i can suck other things, too." jaemin pants teasingly when they pull away. jeno growls.

"don't test me, brat." he leans back, tapping his lips, "c'mon, give me something in return. don't be lazy."

jaemin does. jaemin kisses him hard and fast and desperate, whimpering at how good jeno gropes his ass, squeezing just the right amount. he rubs jeno's toned chest and leans in to kiss him more.

"you like it when i touch your bum, cutie?" jeno teases, "naughty. what else do you like, hm?"

jaemin thinks of what else he's comfortable with right now. he knows jeno will listen if he says "nothing", but the thing is- jaemin _is_ comfortable enough to let jeno touch him a _little_ more. just a little, and no further.

"'m sensitive here." jaemin shyly brings jeno's hand up to his clothed nipple, "like getting touched here."

jeno's eyes darken, "do you now?"

"just over my shirt, please." jaemin adds in a whisper, biting his lower lip.

jeno leans forward and sucks his lower lip into his mouth instead, "whatever you want, doll. stop me if i accidentally do something you're not okay with."

jaemin nods.

jeno's finger brushes lightly at jaemin's nipple, and jaemin _shudders_. it's clear jeno adores that reaction, because he rubs down harder. jaemin whimpers, trying his best to keep the sound in.

jeno likes his noises- but this time, he doesn't demand jaemin to stop muffling them. instead, he gives him a sharp look and then busies himself with jaemin's nipples, until the slytherin realises with shockk that jeno-

\- jeno is fucking testing him. jeno's trying to see what he can do to make jaemin moan out loud, no inhibition.

fuck, that's hot.

and jeno's so _good_ \- he knows how to touch, tease, twist. his one hand plays with one of jaemin's nipples softly. thumbing, rubbing, circling gently, even above the shirt. the other nipple, however- jeno is twisting that one harshly. not hard enough to hurt, but just enough for it to send pleasurable spikes up jaemin's body. eventually, jeno leans down and closes his mouth over one of the nipples. 

the sensation of his erect nipple being sucked into jeno's warm wetness, the thin fabric of his shirt in between creating a feathery sensation- that's enough for jaemin to let out his loudest moan yet. no muffling, no inhibition. so breathy and wanton and borderline erotic that he actually feels embarrassed.

but jeno growls, eyes darkening, "fuck, you sound good. you like your nipples played with that much? you really are a fucking princess, getting turned on from me sucking your tits."

jeno's never talked to him so dirtily before. jaemin loves it- loves this side, the dominant, aggressive jeno that jaemin wants to fucking submit to. this is the jeno that jaemin is ready to spread himself for. fuck, he's so hot.

"jeno." he whimpers, "sensitive."

"does my doll want kisses?"

jaemin puckers his lips desperately. jeno's working overtime now, kissing jaemin vigorously, one hand squeezing his ass and the other toying with his nipple. jaemin's in a very hazy headspace. if jeno's touches are enough to send him into these waves of fuzzy pleasure, then what is sex going to be like? the thought jolts him a little, and no matter how hazy the pleasure is, he feels a trickle of nervousness, because he doesn't think he's ready to go farther than this.

the minute jeno feels jaemin tense, he slows down his kisses, trying to bring the boy back to normal ground.

"sorry." jaemin whispers, watching jeno use his wand to get rid of a very obvious hard-on.

jeno grins, "sorry for what? being so hot? you really don't need to apologize for that, baby."

"but- i mean-" jaemin's cheeks colour, "you- you're-"

"hard?" the boy chuckles, "yeah, i mean...you should see yourself- how can i not be. but it's okay, i took care of it." he twirls his wand.

"but-"

"thanks for letting me play a little more." jeno winks, "you're beautiful, you know?"

jaemin flushes, "jeno."

"you are."

"i'm sorry i couldn't do anything for you..." jaemin looks away, blushing furiously.

"my boner, you mean?" jeno laughs softly, reaching out and turning jaemin's face to him, "you did more than enough. i'm serious when i say thank you for trusting me as much as you do. i'll never break your trust, okay?"

"okay." jaemin whispers, smiling.

"as for my boner, it's taken care of, power of magic." jeno pinches his cheek, "you take your time, and tell me whenever you want to go farther. i'm already lucky to kiss you like this."

"i'm lucky, too." jaemin says shyly, using his wand to remove the wet patches on his shirt, over his nipples. he fixes jeno's messed up hair, too, and his crumpled tie.

"thanks, doll." jeno kisses his neck.

"je _no_."

"not on purpose, you're just too pretty."

"we were supposed to be studying." jaemin buries his face in his hands. jeno snorts.

"we can still study now. i needed that. major motivation."

"OWLs are in one week."

"this luck will last me all month."

"sap."

'you love it."

"i love _you_."

jeno catches his lips in another kiss- a quick one, before they have to go back to studying-"i love you, too, babydoll."

***

"wow, you did it!" jaemin squeals, hugging jeno tightly.

jeno puffs out his chest proudly, examining the quill he'd just transfigured into a cloth. it's a pretty cloth, will flowery embroidery. it reminds him of jaemin, so he holds it out to his boyfriend.

jaemin giggles, "you're cute. but you have to turn it back."

"oh, fuck, yeah." jeno's brow furrows, and he flicks his wand, successfully turning it back into a quill.

"perfect. i think you'll ace practicals." jaemin kisses his cheek, "come on, let's show mark. he was worried about you not getting this one."

mark is duly pleased when jeno demonstrates for him. mark always transforms into a worried older brother when exam time rolls around (despite only being 8 months older than jeno). jeno doesn't mind- he studies hard enough for mark to be approving most of the time.

"good job." mark claps him on the back, "transfiguration was the only thing i was worried about for you, but it looks like you'll be fine. thanks to jaemin."

"yeah." jeno wraps an arm around his boyfriends waist and pulls him into a backhug, "thanks, angel."

jaemin turns a happy pink, and mark laughs.

"how is it going for you, jaeminnie? all set?"

"i think i'm doing alright." jaemin says doubtfully, "i mean...i don't think i'll fail."

"of course you won't."

"but i might."

"no you _won't._ " mark says exasperatedly, "you'll be fine, both of you. anyway, me and chenle are going to hagrid's- he's got in some weird new egg from china and chenle is worried it might be illegal. do you guys want to come?"

"again?" jeno frowns, "that's the third time this year! didn't teddy lupin say hagrid promised not deal with any more foreign eggs after that australian winged thing flew off and set fire to knockturn alley?"

"what happened to that thing anyway?"

"they caught it and took it back to australia." jeno says impatiently, "which is good because it really wasn't adjusting to this weather. hagrid got the egg off a trader at a pub. my point is, he'd been super heartbroken that it flew away after he raised it, and teddy and victoire convinced him not to get any more eggs."

"doesn't seem like it worked, from the sound of it."

"teddy's too busy with head boy duties to keep a constant watch on hagrid's illegal egg habit."

"what about victoire?"

"are you mad? she's terrified of those creatures- the only reason she gets involved is because she's dating teddy." mark snorts, "shouldn't you know? she's in your year."

jaemin pauses as he realises he'd never actually seen victoire weasley in care of magical creatures even once, "wait. she doesn't take care of magical creatures."

"exactly." jeno flicks his forehead, "only took you three years."

"besides." mark says, "this egg is from china. who else would know better than chenle? he knows everything about international relation stuff- he can probably even tell you how the egg got traded into britain."

"fair point."

after deciding not to join their venture and bidding farewell to mark ( and wincing at the thought of chenle possibly identifying that egg as illegal), jeno takes jaemin to the kitchen to feed him sweet things like cake and cinnamon rolls.

"suddenly?" jaemin asks, cheeks stuffed. jeno coos.

"my sweetheart's been working so hard." he tweaks the younger's nose, laughing when he mock-retches at the sappiness.

jaemin does indulge him eventually, of course. soon, jeno's cheeks are red from jaemin's kisses.

"i needed this, honestly." jaemin stretches, "some relaxation before exams, you know? thanks, jeno."

"anything for my princess."

"such a charmer."

"prince charming." jeno reminds him, and jaemin giggles and leans in to kiss him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those of you wondering- yes, i did use teddy and victoire's cannonical ages. teddy was born in 1998, so he'd be a seventh year like jungwoo, while victoire was born in 2000, meaning she's in the same year as norenminhyuck. just some fun bits i like to stick in there hehe. 
> 
> hope you liked it!


	3. iii

their first exam is d.a.d.a., and their last is transfiguration.

"why must i suffer until the end?" jeno asks piteously, "why me? why not one of you?"

"do you _want_ me to suffer?" jaemin raises his eyebrow.

"one of you besides my baby." jeno corrects himself, slipping in the nickname in hopes of instant forgiveness. jaemin rolls his eyes and gives it to him with a quick kiss.

"jaemin is suffering the most, in my opinion." chenle squints at their timetable, "look, he's got arithmancy right after history of magic."

"we have divination right after history of magic." donghyuck points out.

jisung makes a face, "just predict your death to the examiner. you've used thousands of deaths for trelawney- just take her favourite and see what the examiner thinks."

jaemin doesn't even want to look at the day labelled _arithmancy_. he shoves it away, slumping onto renjun's lap, "renjun. when is astronomy?"

"day before charms." renjun consults his list, "guys, i'm going to puke."

jaemin gets up quickly.

renjun snorts, "not really, you idiot. you know what i mean."

jaemin does.

on the first day of exams- theory in the morning, practicals after lunch- jeno demands several good-luck kisses, and jaemin can't help but indulge him.

"you'll be fine." jaemin promises, nuzzling their noses together, "d.a.d.a. is your best subject. one more kiss, then we have to go."

jeno takes advantage by prolonging the kiss for a good minute, before squeezing his hand and picking up his bag to head to the exam hall.

and so it goes. dada is easy- jeno feels far better by the end of it. charms is decent, too- much to chenle's relief, renjun had ruffled his hair and told him that the year of tutoring had come in handy after, all. potions is okay. donghyuck is extremely happy with his performance, insisting that it would be an E at worst.

history of magic is boring and jaemin's sure he's forgotten all the dates. he thinks he might be able to scrounge an A, and he feels better when jeno and hyuck assure him they're on the same boat (renjun beams brightly when he sees the three of them and says he might manage an O. they glare).

herbology and care of magical creatures go fairly well. and on divination day, jaemin peppers jeno with hundreds of kisses, and reminds him of all the possible ways he could die- he hopes jeno remembers at least one for the exam, and doesn't get nervous when the examiner gets too crazy. 

"also, don't forget what happens when saturn is in it's fourth house." jisung tells donghyuck and jeno. 

chenle frowns, "what happens?"

"i don't know." jisung shrugs, "but they sure should."

in the end, jeno emerges from the room, beaming and telling them in great detail how the examiner smiled and nodded when jeno predicted that he would live a long happy life and die due to accidentally setting fire to the kitchen after turning 120. mark and yukhei roar with laughter, but jaemin frowns a little and makes a mental note to take care of all the cooking in the future. he doesn't want to risk it.

donghyuck's story is similar- "i told them i'd fall off a dragon when i try to tame them in romania. the examiner told me i've got a noble heart."

astronomy goes well. the sky and stars are pretty. jaemin thinks of jeno's first confession, under the moonlight. it's clear jeno remembers that, too, from the way he looks back and shoots him a quick eye-smile. it puts jaemin at ease, and he sails through the exam. later, renjun (who's second favourite subject is astronomy) bounces with excitement about how it's a "guaranteed O" for him.

jaemin's biggest sigh of relief is after arithmancy. and, to his complete shock, he thinks he's done alright. he could recall all the 434 formulae on his list, and all the questions looked familiar and solvable. he finished with 40 minutes to spare, and used the time to recheck his paper. he's fairly confident that with luck, he might end up with an E in arithmancy. the fact that the exam went well after all his hard work puts him in a wonderful mood, so he drags jeno to an empty classroom after dinner to kiss him senseless.

"you should do this to me more often." jeno says, dazed, as jaemin pushes him to lay on the desk and straddles his lap, "i wouldn't complain."

"of course you wouldn't." jeno's robes are getting in the way, and jaemin huffs, "can you take this off?"

jeno scrambles to do so, leaving him in just jeans and his dress shirt and red tie. he looks delectable. jaemin kisses him again.

"i take it that arithmancy went well?" jeno mutters against jaemin's mouth.

jaemin pulls away, nodding, "i think i did good."

"'m proud of you, doll." jeno sticks his tongue out teasingly, "suck for me?"

jaemin has come to realise that he quite likes things in his mouth. he can suck on jeno's tongue for hours. having something in his mouth like that gets him all worked up, and jeno fucking loves it. jaemin can see it in his eyes, his smirk. it makes jaemin smirk a little, too- soon enough, jeno's not going to know what hit him. there's quite a lot of jeno that jaemin would like to suck on.

for now, though, he gratefully closes his lips around jeno's tongue and suckles prettily, the way he knows jeno likes.

"transfiguration in three days." jaemin pants as he pulls away, "this is all the luck you're gonna get from me."

"it's more than enough." jeno chases his lips, "stop talking, kiss me more."

jaemin does.

***

"jaeminnie." jeno regards him with wide eyes, "my baby, love of my life, sweetheart, babydoll, angel, princess, bun, darling-"

"-okay, fine." jaemin grouches, pulling the book towards him, "i'll quiz you one more time- just once. so shut up."

jeno eye-smiles. jaemin softens.

"guys, the exam is in an hour." donghyuck says from his corner, where he's poring over five years worth of transfiguration notes, "shouldn't we eat?"

"yes." jaemin and renjun chorus. they make no move to get up.

"guys!" chenle bursts into the room, "i brought food, i thought you might be hungry. i went to the kitchens. winky made waffles!"

"chenle." jaemin's exam-induced mood swings, along with his soft corner for chenle, might actually cause him to tear up, "i love you."

"love you, jaem." chenle sets jaemin's plate in front of him, "wish your cousin loved me too, but he's still as clueless as ever."

jaemin cringes in apology.

"you are an actual angel." renjun takes his plate, "chenle, i will forever be indebted to you. forever. i will buy you anything."

"i don't really need anything." the boy shrugs.

"he's rich, remember?" donghyuck snorts, "what are you going to buy him that he can't buy fifty of with his weekly allowance?"

"right." renjun seems to realize this, "well, i'll tutor you in charms next year too. not just charms- any subject you want."

"okay!"

jeno pokes jaemin's knee, "love. the questions."

jaemin gets all pink and fluttery at this nickname- _love_. how sweet and very jeno. jaemin is enamoured all over again, and when he picks up the book to quiz jeno, it's with a lovestruck smile that makes jeno puff out his chest proudly.

jeno gets eight out of ten questions correctly, and promptly freaks out over the two wrong answers.

"babe, babe, calm down." jaemin rubs his chest, "shh, come here, i'll teach you the answers. these are easy."

"but- but-"

"you got everything else till now. it's only these two. calm down so you can learn them, okay?"

jeno pouts and nods, wringing his hands. jaemin reaches out to hold them and slowly explains the two answers to jeno, who nods determindly.

"i get it."

"yeah?" jaemin kisses him, "that's my prince. you'll be fine, right?"

"yes." jeno breathes out, "yes, i'm- yeah."

"good."

it's in grim silence that jaemin, jeno, renjun and donghyuck walk to the exam hall. transfiguration theory _is_ difficult, even for jaemin. and as for the practicals in the afternoon- they won't all see each other until jaemin is done, since he's the last of them in alphabetical order. they nervously clap each other on the backs, muttering their best wishes. it's the last one, and then they'll be free. (jaemin gives jeno a long good luck kiss, murmuring "you can do it, jeno, i love you." and jeno kisses back and stores jaemin's sweet confession in his heart for motivation to get through the paper).

the exam is easy.

for jaemin, at least. he knows the answer to all the questions at a glance. he finishes early, and has ten minutes to spare even after triple checking his paper. he glances up. they sit in alphabetical order, so he sits at the back (going by last name, hyuck and jeno sit in the same row, and renjun is way in front).

renjun is done, too, furiously checking. hyuck is clutching at his hair, dipping his quill in ink. jeno is still writing, hand flying across the page. jaemin can imagine his expression just from his posture- brow furrowed in concentration, biting his lip nervously.

they barely get time to breathe before it's practicals.

jeno collects a few more kisses from jaemin. some as a reward for finishing theory- "i actually did alright, babe" jeno had said- and some as luck for the upcoming practicals. 

jaemin's examiner is tall and thin and frown-y. he demands several things, all with a gruff voice. jaemin doesn't let it deter him- he carries out all the requests flawlessly, even adding a bit of style to the way he flourishes his wand. his transfigurations are quick and precise and overall perfect. by the end, the examiner is actually smiling at him.

"one more." the man says, "i'd like you to turn this into a mouse and back."

it's a teacup. jaemin feels a surge of warmth. it reminds him of his first tutoring session with jeno- the way jeno had regarded him with awe and the way they'd locked eyes and felt sparks. this is the first thing they'd done together.

he takes a breath and steadies himself, only thinking about that day in the empty classroom. _pretend you're teaching jeno_ , he tells himself.

a flick of his wand, and the teacup is a perfect mouse. he lets the examiner inspect it, before he puts it down for jaemin to turn back into a cup, which he does with ease.

"wonderful." the examiner has a full smile now, "thank you, mr. na. you are free to go."

***

"he's here!"

jaemin hears donghyucks voice before he sees him, of course. standing underneath the large oak tree, renjun, jeno and hyuck are waiting. jaemin grins and hurries towards them, throwing his arms around them in a group hug.

"we're done!" renjun screeches happily, "we're fucking done! we've finished our OWLs!"

"i nearly died for it, but here we are." hyuck's theatrics make them laugh.

jaemin feels light, free. finally, finally, after months and months of preparation, they have finished their OWLs. he can relax, he can be happy and do whatever he wants.

"how did you do?" jaemin asks tentatively, looking at jeno, "was it...okay?"

jeno gathers jaemin in his arms, glancing quickly at renjun and jeno, "avert your eyes now, my warning to you."

renjun snorts, but he and donghyuck turn away. the minute they do, jeno leans down to press a long, warm, loving kiss to jaemin's lips.

"i did well." he whispers, and relief floods jaemin's body, "i did everything correctly. i only made one tiny mistake, but i fixed it before she even told me to. it's all thanks to you, baby. i love you so much."

"i love you, too." jaemin's head is spinning from the heart-stopping confession and the fact that jeno fucking did it. he had been so scared at the beginning of the year- and he had been so bad at transfiguration back then.

but he and jaemin had worked their asses off, and they studied so hard and now, they are finally done and jeno has done well.

"i'm so proud of you." jaemin kisses him again, "really, jeno. good job- you've worked so hard."

"this is sweet." hyuck snarks, "but can we turn around now?"

jaemin giggles at his two friends, their backs facing him. hyuck's arms are crossed and renjun's hands are on his hips. they're both tapping their feet impatiently.

"yes." he says, and they do. their faces break into smiles despite themselves.

"we really did it." jeno marvels, "we're fucking done with OWLs."

"we are." hyuck shakes his head in disbelief, "it's been a crazy few months, hasn't it?"

"you can say that again."

"we did well." jaemin holds out his arms for another group hug, and the other three oblige, "we deserve a treat."

"hogsmeade tomorrow?" jeno asks hopefully, "just us four, no one else."

"00-liner time?" renjun teases, poking his ribs, "you softie. i thought you'd want a special date with jaeminnie."

"that comes after." jeno says, pressing a reassuring peck to jaemin's forehead, "but we all worked hard."

"fair." renjun grins, "i'll postpone my date with yukhei to sunday, too, then."

"fine, all of you leave me on sunday." hyuck says dramatically, "i'll just be here, alone, sad and-"

"-you have mark." jaemin wiggles his eyebrows, "don't think i forgot about that."

hyuck shuts up immediately, and they all snicker.

jeno threads his fingers with jaemin's and holds him close, "all my thanking you for your year of tutoring is on sunday." he says with his sunny smile, "so just wait till then."

"you don't have to do anything." jaemin mutters, even though he knows jeno will anyway, "such a charmer."

"i am your prince charming, after all."

jaemin's teasing smile becomes something soft. he reaches forward to brush some hair out of jeno's face. with the sun shining down on him, he looks ethereal.

"that, you are." he breathes, "my prince."

***

"fifth year's almost over." renjun says.

the eight of them are lying on the grass. the sun is shining and the breeze is pleasant. it's so crazy that it's almost summer, jaemin thinks. there's been an incredible amount of change in his life over the past year at hogwarts.

four new best friends, a boyfriend, being done with OWLs...it's a lot that's taken place, and they're all changes he's happy about.

"the year-end feast is on friday." chenle says happily, "i think hufflepuff will come second this year."

"well, the competition is mostly between hufflepuff and gryffindor." hyuck mutters, "between silverstein for ravenclaw and jamieson for slytherin, we don't stand much of a chance."

"yeah, slytherin is scraping the bottom for sure."

"hufflepuff did crazy good this year." renjun agrees, "in the end, it's ravenclaw that's really losing. gryffindor and hufflepuff will come up top for the house cup, and slytherin came out on top quidditch. what the fuck has ravenclaw done?"

that _is_ true. the quidditch plaque was awarded to slytherin this year. gryffindor had come second.

it was an intense match- at the beginning, slytherin was leading by a mile. eventually, gryffindor caught up, but between jaemin and jiynoung, the gryffindor chasers couldn't get a word in between. slytherin soared ahead once again, leading by more than a 100 points.

in the end, jisung caught the snitch. with the enormous point difference, this would have brought gryffindor and slytherin to a draw.

but.

just a bare second before jisung caught the snitch, jaemin managed to score a goal. the audience had been so focussed on jisung and minho's battle for the snitch that they had barely noticed jaemin get a hold of the quaffle. it all seemed to happen at the same time- the quaffle soared past mark a literal millisecond before jisung caught the snitch.

and so even though gryffindor got 150 points, slytherin beat them 550-540.

mark, jisung, yukhei and jeno had been absolutely horrified. jaemin knew they would be, so he managed to escape after the game with the other 3 to give them some time alone.

"mark's going to feel bad for not smiling at you after the game." donghyuck said conversationally.

"so is yukhei." renjun agreed.

"jisung's going to be pissed all week." chenle snorted. then he frowned, "or maybe not, since he _did_ manage to catch the snitch."

"even jeno didn't smile at me." jaemin couldn't help but laugh at the way jeno had managed a grimace in his direction as the teams shook hands. it probably didn't help that jaemin was smirking.

"but to be fair, the reason they lost is because their chasers couldn't keep up with you." hyuck pointed out, "and, coincidentally, chaser is the only position none of our friends play."

"mark might be pissed at himself for letting jaemin score."

"when does jaemin not score?"

of course, in the end, the four chivalrous, boisterous, too-passionate gryffindor boys had joined them for dinner. mark and yukhei wrung jaemin's hand in genuine congratulations and- just as renjun and hyuck had predicted- apologized for their earlier unenthusiastic responses.

jaemin waved it off- he knew them well enough, after all.

jisung was just happy he at least caught the snitch before minho. jeno had peppered him with kisses right there at the dining table, cooing at how talented his boyfriend was, and how he was stupid and mean to not even congratulate him properly after a game.

"i mean, i would want some time alone, too." jaemin ruffled his hair, "it's okay, nono."

"nono." hyuck had muttered, mock-retching.

they're all good memories. it's been a good year. there have been ups and downs- his multiple stress-sessions caused by arithmancy, his injury earlier this year, his small fight with jeno (which lead to their first i love yous). jaemin's never had such an eventful year at hogwarts.

"-min? jaemin?" jaemin is snapped out of his reminiscing by jisung, who is waving a hand in front of his face, "earth to jaemin. you zoned out."

"sorry." jaemin shakes his head, "i was just remembering how i single-handedly beat all four of you in the quidditch finals."

all four of them turn to him with identical glares. he grins.

"just wait till next year." jeno says, "you won't get away so easy. i'll knock all my bludgers right at your pretty face."

jaemin puckers his lips mockingly. jisung smack his shoulder.

"we should hang out this summer." yukhei says, "maybe we can all spend a week at someone's house at the end and go to king's cross together."

"that would be fun." mark nods, "i always come back to yorkshire to my aunt's house around the end of august."

"ooh, i almost forgot you're going to canada." donghyuck says, "how cool. you and your lame american accent."

"my accent is _canadian!_ " mark looks genuinely offended. hyuck raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

"there's a difference?"

"do english people and irish people have the same accent?" mark demands, outraged.

"touché."

"me, hyuck and chenle always go to jaemin's house on his birthday." jisung pipes up, "august 13th. in case any of you want to join us this year."

"aww, my baby's still such a baby." jeno coos, kissing his cheeks, "i forgot you still haven't had your birthday."

"you _just_ had yours like last month!" jaemin splutters, "donghyuck just had his two weeks ago! how am _i_ still the baby?"

"my baby." jeno murmurs only for him to hear, and he blushes scarlet.

mark's birthday is on august second, and they all perk up when they realise he'll be legally _of age_ soon. yukhei pouts, muttering that his coming of age was in january, and nobody was this awed back then.

"because you're you." renjun says, "you look twenty. mark looks ten."

mark pouts and yukhei puffs out all proudly. jisung snorts.

"how about you all come over to my house?" chenle suggests, "we can figure out the details after we go home and talk to our parents. we can spend the last week of break at my place! it'll be fun. you can each have your own room if you want."

there's a pause in the air as renjun, yukhei, mark and jeno register this.

the other three exchange smirks, having gotten used to the extravagance that is chenle's life.

"all seven of us." mark asks carefully, "can have our own room?"

"sure." chenle shrugs, "you can share if you want, it's up to you. jaemin, hyuck and jisung all have their own rooms at my house."

"they have their own room....for the two weeks per year they spend there?" yukhei repeats, dazed. chenle nods, frowning.

"are you not okay with that?"

"we are totally okay with it!" mark says hastily, "that sounds great, lele. we'd love to spend the last week at your house."

chenle beams.

"let's write our parents this week then." renjun says, "they always get annoyed when i don't tell them my plans. because we always take vacations based around my schedule."

summer already sounds so fun. jaemin can't wait.

***

jaemin doesn't know how he's going to make it two whole months without seeing jeno every day.

"i know." jeno kisses all over his face, "but i'm coming to your grandparents house for a week with you! you can teach me all about living like a muggle. and i'm coming over for your birthday, and we're meeting in chenle's house."

"that's true...."

"and i'm taking you shopping in muggle london, too, remember? gonna buy some pretty clothes for my pretty baby."

jaemin blushes happily at this, catching jeno's face for a proper kiss, "is there anything specific you'd like to see me in?"

jeno's face lights up.

"i'll wear anything for you." jaemin giggles, "but probably not some stuff in public? i don't mind if it's just us, though."

which is true. jaemin's style is classy and comfortable. if he's not in his robes, he'll wear jeans and a t-shirt, dress shirts for special occasions. tracksuits- there's a muggle brand called adidas that he's particularly fond of. if he's getting all decked up for something, he'll wear his top a little more cropped and his jeans a _little_ tighter and more torn up than usual. he's a bit iffy about what other people see him wearing, besides his own friends. 

but if it's just jeno...he's quite willing to dress up even prettier for him. just as long as he's the only one who sees. 

"maybe shorts?" jeno asks hopefully, "like...short ones. you've got such nice legs. and i like your cropped stuff, even though you barely wear them." he rubs a hand on jaemin's toned tummy, "you're so pretty here."

"noted." jaemin kisses the side of his face, "you basically want to see more skin than clothes."

"heyyy don't make me sound like a perv!" jeno whines, "i even gave you reasons! you have beautiful legs and a beautiful waist, and cute peachy bum and-"

"- _i'm_ not the one making you sound like a perv at this rate, babe, it's all on you-"

"-i'd like to see you in those oversize sweaters, too." jeno cuts him off.

jaemin gapes, "in _summer?_ "

"we can stock up for later, and you can wear them in winter." jeno thinks for a moment, "actually, since my clothes would be a bit big on you, i'd like to see you in those, too."

"mmkay." jaemin wrraps his legs around jeno's waist, getting comfortable in his lap. jeno rubs up and down jaemin's thigh.

"i'm excited to see you dressed up for me." jeno rubs their noses together, "is there anything you like me wearing?"

"turtlenecks." jaemin says immediately.

jeno pulls the same face jaemin had just a moment ago, "in summer?"

"well, in summer....those muscle tees are _so_ hot on you." jaemin trails teasing fingers up jeno's bicep, "show off all of these. so handsome."

jeno grins, kissing him deeply. after a while, jaemin pulls away to breathe, but jeno is back on him in an instant, kissing him like he needs to breathe and jaemin is air. jaemin reciprocates, giving in to the intensity and making all the noises jeno likes.

jaemin's going to miss this over the summer, but like jeno said, they'll get to see each other all the time.

and for now, as jeno squeezes his ass and kisses him harder, jaemin thinks he'll make the most of this last week.

***

on friday, gryffindor wins the house cup, as predicted.

donghyuck and jaemin roll their eyes at the way their four gryffindor boys are chaotically celebrating, but they clap nonetheless. over at the hufflepuff table, chenle and his friend- hufflepuff's seeker- felix lee, look quite satisfied with second place.

renjun, on the other hand, and all his ravenclaw friends- jaemin recognizes lia and nako and hyunjin- have the fakest smiles plastered on their faces as they take turns glaring at silverstein.

"jamieson's not even here for us to glare at." hyuck mutters.

on friday night, they have dinner at the slytherin table for the last time that year, before heading to their dorms to pack up. donghyuck very happily tears off his calendar. jaemin just barely stops him from shredding his notes, scolding him that chenle and jisung can use them next year.

"i can't believe we live in a world where those babies are going to be fifth years." hyuck mutters, and honestly, jaemin agrees.

"lets hope the fifth-year puberty hits jisung hard enough to finally see chenle."

jinyoung bae snorts from his corner of the room.

later that night, jaemin, hyuck, jisung and chenle sneak to the kitchens to say goodbye to the house-elves and wish them a good summer. jaemin very proudly shows off a tea-cloth that he embroidered and gifts it to winky, who beams and ties it around her wrist.

on saturday morning, they all get into the carriages that take them to the hogwarts express. mark and yukhei exchange forlorn looks, and jaemin knows immediately what they are thinking.

this is the last time these flying carriages will take them from hogwarts to the hogwarts express. next year, when the school year draws to a close, the seventh years will take the boats, just as they had back in year one. the boats are what will bring them to the train, and it makes sense.

they leave hogwarts for the last time the same way they first arrived.

yukhei leans over the railing to a chance a last glance at hogwarts before the (invisible to them) thestrals take off, "'s gonna be the last time we fly off like this. crazy, isn't it?"

"you can say that again." mark leans over, too, "next year we take the boats."

"you'll still come in the carriages in the _beginning_ of next year, though." jisung points out, "it's not the last time you're taking them _ever_."

"true." mark acknowledges, "but leaving like this always makes me feel like, yeah i've got a lot of time left here. you know?"

"this morning we said goodbye to a few of our seniors." yukhei says ruefully, "jungwoo, josh. made it feel real. like, damn, we're really going to be in our final year soon."

renjun looks away. jaemin suddenly realises that renjun will have to spend a whole year at hogwarts without yukhei. his heart breaks a little for him. yukhei notices, too, and intertwines their fingers. for the first time since jaemin's known them, it's renjun who brings yukhei's knuckles up for a kiss.

the carriages take off with a roar. mark and yukhei stay leaning over the railing the entire time, watching hogwarts fade into view.

catching sight of hogwarts while arriving is something gorgeous- the grandeur of the castle, the thrill of excitement at the thought of seeing your friends, spending another year at school. 

watching it fade as you leave though....that's something beautiful, too. a melancholic beautiful. the excitement to meet family, take a break....the small sadness of missing your friends...the faith that you will be back next year to do it all again.

it's something jaemin feels is forever, even though he knows it's not. looking at mark and yukhei now, small smiles on their faces as hogwarts gets tinier and tinier, and finally disappears from sight, he knows that it's harder than it sounds to let go.

the end is as tough as the beginning- new journeys, a new life. nobody knows what's in store.

but those moments that lead up to the last...the beginning of the end, which takes them to the beginning of something new..... those are perhaps the most painful of all. the comfort and happiness that they're wrapped in will soon change. things will never be the same. and they all know they have to cherish this next year, because they don't know what's going to happen after that. the eight of them together is a gift that jaemin will never take for granted.

the melancholy wears off with time. soon, they're all joking and laughing again. jeno leans his head on jaemin's shoulder, and jaemin can't help but press a kiss to his hair.

the best things in life, the best moments....are moments like these. nothing big is going on, there's no special event, no party. it's just the eight of them in their natural element. the simplest memories that may not seem to hold an special significance when they happen are the ones that will remain in jaemin's mind for a long, long time.

"what are you thinking?" jeno whispers to him, gentle voice breaking him out of his stupor.

jaemin shakes his head, smiling, "nothing. i love you, you know?"

"i know." jeno smiles back, "i love you, too."

they have hours to go- there's still the train ride home. they're going to keep making noise- they'll probably attempt to squeeze into one compartment, and then chenle will buy all the snacks off the trolley as if it's nothing. they'll see their parents at the station and hug and promise to meet soon. they will, too, as many times as they can over the summer. and then summer will end, and they'll be back for another year- the last one with all eight of them, and jaemin swears to make it their best.

and after that...things will go a bit quicker. life will truly begin.

but if it's him and jeno, if it's him and hyuck and chenle and jisung, if it's the eight of them together....jaemin thinks they will be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading everyone!!  
> the support is always so overwhelming and i will always be grateful for that.  
> i just want to let everyone know once again that this is definitely not the last work in this series!! i've already started writing something for nomin's summer, which i am super excited for you to read. so please do keep an eye out for that!!
> 
> once again, thank you, i'll see you next time <3 <3


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